With gold and other jewels tumbling out of the vaults of the Padmanabhaswamy temple in Trivandrum—figures upto and beyond Rs 100,000 crore are being mentioned, more than twice Rs42,000 crore of Tirupati—newspapers are busy calculating the true value of the haul (at current gold prices) and what can be done with the windfall.

The Times of India reports that one lakh crore rupees is almost equal to Wipro’s market capitalisation of Rs 1.04 lakh crore, nearly one-third of Reliance Industries, and the more than twice Posco’s proposed investment of $12billion in India.

All of us, even the atheists, should go to this temple and touch the feet of the priests and the trustees. These are the guys with “impeccable integrity.” I am against Lok Pal, but if Lok Pal gets formed, then perhaps the managers of this temple can be chosen to lead it.

They seem to be incredibly honest, when compared with the ignominious standards set by various governments in this unfortunate country.

How did such an incredible treasure remain unstolen in a corrupt country like India? Had the government of India had been managing the temple, the treasure would have been transported to Swiss Banks many decades ago.

Lets have no doubt that even more incredible wealth belonging to Indians is lying in Swiss vaults.

Also, we should not go by what various commentators in media are saying. This temple’s treasure cannot be sold. It is India’s cultural wealth. It should be safeguarded (from the corrupt elite) and at some point of time we can have a museum (managed by the royal family and the temple authorities) to display these treasures.

We need to keep this treasure safe and in India for eternity.

Historians and sociologists should be given access to the treasure, so that they can study it and come up with new theories about Indian culture.

Is this the black money we are searching for? or is there more to it?
The Government should confiscate all this and raid all the Mutts for more of the same. India will be the richest country on the planet, and its inhabitants the most fortunate ones.

The temple was a private temple of the Erstwhile Royal Family. The Royal family created a trust to manage the temple with the consent of the govt. That wealth existed was known for decades (though not the exact amount). Thus the temple and its valuables belong to the trust.

There have not been any allegation of mismanagement of the trust or embezzlement of money. On the contrary the Royal Family seems ultra-honest in comparison to our political leaders, to have not touched the vast riches!!

Yes, its a lot of money, but then so is Thirupati or Saibaba trust wealth. Why would it be anyone else’s privilege to decide what to do with the money?

Would anyone consider doing the same with Thirupati temple? Or any other religious shrine?

Let this huge amount of money be spent by temple trust only in& for Kerla state for building & providing houses to poor &homeless, schools,hospitals,state & national highways,airports, modernization of railway stations & railway network,orphnage,widows ashrams,old age houses & to meet the other financial& meterial requirements of all needies & poors of Kerala state.

OM, I fully agree with you.
And also, we hear only in the stories and poems that Bharat is a land where milk and honey flow like rivers, golden birds reside on every branch of the trees and gems and jewels were sold on the roadside. When we look around and see the treasure and money available in temples, maths ashrams it proves that it is all true after all! And what we see around is what is left after the invaders and British looted and apart from what may be available in Swiss and other banks! In spite of corruption at every level, it gives an elating feel that our country is truly blessed by the Gods and Goddesses!

Leave it as it was, its the sree padmanabhas property and no one should touch, it should be used for the development of temple only.The trust should manage the temple but with more transparency.Never allow the govt to take it over, if any plans for taking it over , then they should have to think about taking over the Christians and Muslims wealth in their religious places.Why is no one even speaking of it?

During older times, temples used to be the coffers of the hindu kings – perhaps explaining why they were subjected to plunder by invading forces. the case with the padmanabhaswamy temple is no different. hence, the wealth once belonged to the kings of travancore, which means it is now the wealth of the people of kerala and india, not the personal assets of any temple or community. the temple might be a private temple, but the royal family’s only source of income was taxes and other revenue from the public, not some petrochemical company which a former gas station attendant built.
however, considering the state of affairs in our country where modern day plunder is not even frowned up on, there perhaps is a genuine concern about the future of the wealth if taken over by the government. but that should not be the reason why the whole wealth should be appropriated by a select few.
the authorities, supreme court in this context, should get international experts to evaluate the wealth in two ways – its intrinsic value as gold and precious stones, and its historic value as antique ornaments. the gold and gems that don’t have any historic significance could be used by the state for developmental work, while the rest could be stored in a Louvre-like place.
with the media creating a frenzy that has got the public addicted (i am reminded of the days when dailies carried page one news about the stock market rise everyday), historians should perhaps help us find more things about raising this much wealth. i am told that in travancore, those who did not pay taxes were first given 12 lashes, then some other rounds of punishments before the king finally confiscates the agriculture land and other assets. it may not be fair to judge them from standards set in this modern day, but the portrayal of a ‘benevolent aristocracy’ too is equally misplaced. the wealth found locked up in the underground coffer is literally the sweat – and many times blood – of the poor man.
this wealth becomes all the more vulgar when it is known that the precious materials were so unearthly. how else would one describe gold chains weighing 10 kgs and running for several metres? or the brahmin sacred thread made of pure gold embellished with precious stones?
will the government do anything about this? certainly it won’t. in electoral politics, none would want to anger the hindus by taking over the assets. especially a christian chief minister. in fact, such is our politics that even if the communists had won all 140 assembly seats and assumed power, the situation would not have been different. our secularism is part of a theory from the late ’40s, while practical politics is still affected by caste, creed, gender, race, place, sexual orientation etc etc.
someone had commented about the ‘impeccable integrity’ of the people who run the temple. while it would not be fair to cast any aspersions on their character, one should also understand that the coffers were sealed off using humongous granite slabs – weighing several tonnes – which makes it impossible to access most of the wealth. otherwise, why should the wealth remain unaccounted for over 130 years?
hindus make up for the majority of the population in the state, and nairs and ezhavas form the influential core of it. shuddering in pleasure as if the wealth is part of their heirloom, the nair service society has already started the campaign to keep the wealth with the temple – more importantly, away from the government. the stand is not surprising as the community were the managers of the aristocracy across pre-independence kerala whether it is the princely states of travancore, kochi or kozhikode. the more influential ezhavas, led through the srinarayana dharma paripalana sangham by a dangerous but colourful vellapalli natesan, should perhaps come out with the argument to nationalise at least portion of the wealth.
for the record, i am a keralite, a hindu and a nair..

To start with, It will be an herculean task to protect the treasure from the governments’ servants’ hands. I guess a part of it would have already been transported to the treasure diggers house/go down. Remainder of them will be looted by the treasure bearers slowly over the years, and sold off at christies among other auction houses.

Once upon a time, there was a temple in Kerala…………i presume that is the fate of this very treasure, in line with others.

Ashoka: Must be crazy to say what you have said. You speak as if you have built Maths and seen its inner workings.
The present King was in Mysore for three days along with R.Venkatraman – a decade ago. I was deputed by the government to be with him. He is simplicity and humility personified.
We should build a super secure museum to display all the treasure that has been found and Kerala will become number one tourist spot in the world.
Kerala is God’s own country. For leisure and wealth…..

one day we may need it to prevent us from going ‘greece’ way?
I was in a bank branch recently, there were some 8 or 10 people changing the phone numbers on their account. Then the branch manager told me they all buy
fancy expensive phones using bank loans and after couple of EMI’s they’intentionally’ default, change the sim and move on!

since it is a huge amount which ordinary people cannot manage, I suggest handing it over to the following people to manage it. These people are selected across party lines and irrespective of caste, creed, sex, race etc. It is only their sheer achievement that lands them in this position –

And to manage all these people, I suggest nominating Smt. Sonia Gandhi, to ensure that the amount stays 100% in india, and is used and utilised for India and Indians alone, in the same manner her wonderful party is doing for the last 60 odd years. And the spokesperson for this wonderful troop will be Shri. Manish Tewari.

Only the cynical would look at the find under the temple as wealth, monetise is and demand its use for welfare. Not a bad idea, had it been found like it was in the case of Satya Sai Baba’s personal chambers. The find included cash and some gold. In Thiruanthapuram, every piece is antique, of far superior in value compared to its mere weight in gold. Some things found are rare, like gold in the form of rice and paddy grains. They are or archeological value and being cultural treasures, cannot be sold nor taken out of the country. They had therefore remain in a museum underscoring the point that the present kind of rulers would have stashed such wealth under their own buildings, not protectively under the temple.

As this involves rare treasures, those must first be properly evaluated by eminent historians and archeologists to understand their full significance and to get a historical background. Understanding the historical significance may help us in knowing how these were meant to be used. It might be of immense help to see if there are references to these treasures in the temple records or other historical records of the region. After this is known, utmost care should be taken to see if the treasure can be used for the purpose intended. Whatever remains after that could be stored for posterity either in a museum or in a protected vault.

I think first the government should take away all this waqf real estate property and the church real estate property which are in prime locations and sell them at the market rates. This will generate enough money to do all developmental works and leave the money at Trivandrum to the temple trust. Moreover, this treasure was donated by hindus to a hindu temple, and as such should be used for only hindu upliftment. How can christians and muslims who traditionally looted these temples claim equal rights on this treasure. As it is we are using most of the revenue generated by hindu temples for “secular” causes.

Till recently Temple was being managed by a Private Trust belonging to Travancore Royal Family. Though this was part of the covenant at the time of States merger, subsequent abolition of Privy purses in 1971 it did not alter the situation. But acting on a private petition, the Kerala High Court had in January this year asked the state government to take over the administration of the temple. On appeal, the SC stayed the temple take over part but gave the go ahead for stocktaking. As such it is still premature to assume to whom the wealth belongs !

If this is the treasure that is left after uninhibited loot from Islam & European invaders for centuries, India must have been truly the all-time richest country in the world.
Did Europeans really come for spice trade as the history suggests?

INDIA IS SECULAR COUNTRY AND THE TEMPLE BELONGS TO HINDUS AND THE COUNTRY HAS NO RIGHT TO USE IT FOR GOVT.PURPOSES.ITS HINDUS HARD EARNED MONY TO PROTECT THEIR RELIGION AND CULTURE. AND ALL THE MONEY MUST GO TO (IF USED) TO ERADICATE CASTISM IN HINDU AND PROMOTE POOR HINDU TEMPLE WHO CANT SUTAIN THEMSELVES.THEN PROMOTE HINDU RELIGIOUS RECONVERSION (PLS DONT THINK I AM A FANATIC) EVERY MINORIY RELIGION IS DOING IT AND THE CONSTITUTION OF SECULAR INDIA HAS GIVEN FULL RIGHTS TO DO THIS.

NOW NEXT Q IS IF COURT HAS THAT RIGHT TO OPEN A TEMPLE
SECRET ROOM THEM WE HAVE A RIGHT TO OPEN 22 SEALED ROOMS OF TAJ MAHAL ISINIT WE ARE IN A SECULAR COUNTRY AND RULES FOR ALL RELIGIOUS PLACES ARE APPLIED IN SAME YARD STICK

NOW THINK WHAT WE MUST DO AS A REAL SECULARIST INDIAN
WHO BELIEVE IN FREE THINKING

Use the money to reinstate unconstitutional monarchy in Kerala. Find what has been hidden subterraneously in Nanjanagudu and Chamundi betta and let our true ruler His Highness Srikanthadatta Wodeyar become our King. Let Vikram Sampath be his diwan. Raajaseva Praveena Bhyrappa will be the keeper of royal records.

we are a bunch of idiots. all our temples, monuments, treasures everything is not preserved nor revered and gets broken looted destroyed by our stupidity.

the ASI was sent to Angkor wat and they did a damn good job of destoying things scientificaly. If you visit it you’ll hang your head in shame.

why do we do this??

in hindsight with all their faults the royal houses were much better.

but time marches on, we dont learn, we destroy, and chant mumbo-jumbo.

there is no hope as seventy percent are BPL and ninty five percent state that for admission to schools, for medical treatment, for water, for electricity, they have to bribe or forgo. and yet there is a debate. SAD

Like it or not rich temples such as Tirupati and Sabarimala are a rich source of income ifor the respective state govts and most of the income is not ploughed back into the temples but goes to the coffers of the state govts under the Hindu Endowments Act. So govts are more interested in opening up the ancient vaults of the temples than following the trail of black money in tax havens. If the wealth of the temple is appropriated by the govt it is likely it will be used for the `upliftment` of the babus and netas and is more likely to end up in Swiss banks or sold to foreigners as the antique value of the coins and jewellery will be great.

Having said that kudos to Travancore royal family who were reformists and lived a simple life, true servants of the lord Padmanabha!

I firmly believe that a large portion of the wealth belonging to temples are actually donated by devotees(!) to wash out their sins usinf money obtained using corrupt and unethical means.

Can temple/place of worship create culture where donations with intentions to wash sins are discouraged? Aren’t temple/places of worship expected to give lessons or educate people in moral, ethics and spirituality?

Do we or God want to have such corrupt people as devotees, without any change in their heart, in any society simply because they can donate/give lots of money usually much more than honest devotee?

If temple/places of worship do not address/correct this then are these institutions silent partner in immoral/unethical/non-spiritual/wrong activity and indirectly encouraging such things?

If a corrupt person loots and then gives part of it to temple/place of worship then does the status of that of money changes from loot to sacred/God’s money?

Hey Everybody Hold your horse. For all we know the so called golden statues, et cetera, could be wooden statues covered with gold sheet. We build golden gopuras, golden thrones using the technique. Such technique is well known since olden days and is vividly employed by erstwhile royals. Let them assay the treasure first, before adding any further zeros.

all the wealth should be used for south Indians with keralites having first priority.
We should look after that congress does not take it to central govt at delhi and distribute among themselves.

with this kerala can become a first world nation with its own system and we will be happy to see a neighbour develop.
and similar things may come for each state. we can leave the concept to be with delhi govt favouring swiss accounts

Politicians stash their black money with so-called Godmen. The Govt of India should take a bold step and confiscate all this wealth immediately. I am positive this will not only clear all the country’s debt, but also ensure the citizens get all basic amenities at affordable cost. After all it is the country’s wealth which has been looted and stashed, and not their personal belonging.

Govt must not interfere in the issues belongs to temple , we can only safe guard the wealth and we have no right to claim on the wealth , because if the wealth goes into the hands of govt what this corrupt politicians and officials do they just gobble it up in the name of development and public welfare . The wealth of the temple belongs to god and only one god , Lord Padmanabha

The country and the executive or judiciary can’t even decide on recovering the obscene loot of overnight crooks like A Raja, Hassan Ali, Gandhi Family, Maran, Karunanidhi, Kanimozhi, Mayawati, Kalmadi, Sharad Pawar, Chidambaram, Mamata Banerjee, Yeddyurappa, Gowda, Kumaraswamy, Renukacharya, Reddy’s or that of 1000s of other shameless morons currently doing so-called ‘humble, public service’ for the gullible poor. So to be honest: it is another day dream and a smoke pipe to hope that the riches to the extent of 20 Billion will ever be shared among the poor or used for much needed infrastructure, education, health..etc in the rural areas of the country or states.

We are in such a tragic transition in Indian history that even a critically damning report from Lokayukta justice N Santosh Hegde, will only get laughed and ignored at, by the powers that be including the canny trader Gadkari, while a mere 30X40 corner site gets ‘immorally yet legally’ grabbed by none other than the Thief Minister in broad daylight because his poor sons and daughter need them urgently.

Hello! A. Padmanabha has merely declared his assets. He is not asking advice on what is to be done with his wealth.Vidhana Soudha’s august portals proudly declare “Government’s Work Is God’s Work” In 1750, the Travancore Rajas declared pretty much the same thing- Their work was God’s work and Raja became Padmanabha Dasa.- they added to his wealth and didn’t eat away into it- they have established a whole culture, given in terms of arts, music, philosophy, and even science, and yet remain like the real Gandhis, unassuming and self-effacing.If our elected leaders had thought of themselves as the Dasas of their voters, the Government coffers would have been ten times richer than aformentioned a Padmanabha.

The Govt should nationalize the fortunes stashed away in the various temples. Some like the wealth hidden in dharmasthala temple have been a total secret for ages with the likes of Veerendra Heggade dancing to the tunes of politicians, especially of the Cong-I.
Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala used to be an icon of charity until a decade ago. While the Anna dānā, Vidya dānā and free mass weddings are well known activities, little has been said about how Dr. Heggade personally manages the awesome wealth of the temple.

It is indeed heartening to note that the erstwhile Queen of Travancore, Rani Gowri Lakshmibai has said that the properties and assets of Thiruvananthapuram Sri Ananthapadmanabhaswamy temple, where a 20 Billion treasure trove has been unearthed ‘neither belongs to the Royal family or the devotees nor the Government’.

@Shetty,
You can leave Mr Heggade alone. He is the most honest dharmadhikari. He never danced to anybody’s tunes. just give me one incidence.(agree there were some rumblings about surendra & harshendra).
He treats everyone with great respect. If you still want to go after some body go after asranna clan(kateel) and jois clan(horanadu)

While little is known of how the wealth of major temples (as well as Gulf-funded shaddy madrasas) are managed or audited, it is interesting to note the closeness of the brothers to the most ‘noted politicians’ in the state.

Most recently, the media mentioned that the controversial brothers were in the forefront of the family led management team that ceremoniously welcomed God-fearing, truth-seeking, most innocent poor leaders and ministers doing ‘great public service’ like Renukacharya, Halappa, Anand Asnotikar as well as Yeddi, Kumaraswamy and clan!

I don’t think there is anything wrong to utilize the unitilised wealth found in the temples for the welfare of the people. It can be used to construct hospitals,schools,distribution of water & electricity in rural India and ensure rural India keeps pace with the rest.

Did you see my comment about Waqf and Church properties above..What do you think about the idea of disposing off prime real estate property owned by the Waqf board at current market rates and using the resulting money for building hospitals and schools.

No it does not. We are only custodians of this temple wealth and should leave it to the temple trust to decide on what needs to be done with the wealth. This has been in the temple for over 3 centuries and when 3 generations have not touched it, it would be arrogance on our part to misappropriate this wealth. But you still did not answer my question about the waqf property disposal.

Just as the properties and massive assets of Thiruvananthapuram’s Sri Ananthapadmanabhaswamy temple are finally going to be used to build hospitals, schools and roads in Kerala (thanks to the intervention of the wise judges in the Supreme Court as well as the selfless-helpful attitude of the Travancore King and Queen, the riches hidden in Dharmasthala, Udupi Krishina and Kukke Subramanya Temples combined, must be divested of any single individual’s or family management control.

If necessary through a PIL in the SC, the awesome riches must be swiftly audited (before any hanky panky like in case of Sai Bhaba’s wealth) and made use of for the same good, noble causes in South Kanara (where the 3 temples are located), a key district that sadly lacks a lot of the much-needed infrastructure including rural hospitals, proper road connectivity with it’s cities as well as with Bangalore. Regretfully, despite so many cabinet ministers and state ministers from SK being in power for many decades, the shameless-crooked politicians have only focused on filling in their own coffers or promoting their own caste/community…etc.

Notable intellectuals, enlightened elders and leaders (sans politicians) from SK including Sri Veerendra Heggade and Sri Vishwesha Tirtha Swami would be leaving behind a better legacy to posterity if they could serve and help the common man in the district and state as a whole!

Do only people from South Kanara go to these temples and contribute. What about people coming from out of south kanara and donating money to these temples. Do they get a share of the treasure also? Why is the Supreme court taking liberty and undue interest to audit the wealth of temples of only one community, through PIL submitted by non-entities. What is the locus standi of the petitioners in the Tiruvananthapuram temple case?

It is a golden feather in the cap of the rulers that they did not even open the Padmanabhswamy temple treasuries for more than a century … It’s a tribute to Travancore Royal family that they didn’t succumb to the temptation of appropriating some of Rs 1.50 lakh cr treasure … When a Roman coin was shown to Jesus, he said one must give to God what is God’s and to Caesar what is Caesar’s … Hindu interests don’t count. Any attempt to take over church and masjid properties for better management raises the ante.

@kingkhan “utilize the unitilised wealth found in the temples for the welfare of the people”

We know how the gas/oil reserves have been utilized to enrich a few. After the contents of the temple vaults have been siphoned off Kapi Sibal will clarify that the true worth was only a few crores.
Sonia’s Sister will be given exclusive rights to move the merchandise to Sotheby’s via Italy.